Book Notes

By Mary B. W. Tabor

Published: March 8, 1995

Louganis Tops the List

Whether the staggering sales of his new book are testament to his courage, charisma, commercial timing or all three, Greg Louganis's new book, "Breaking the Surface" (Random House), is making a significantly bigger splash than the sleek former Olympic diver -- or booksellers -- expected.

"I never anticipated what's been happening," Mr. Louganis, 35, said in a telephone interview from Atlanta, where he is on tour. "I don't think anybody did. It is a complex story. I guess it is touching a lot of people and a lot of emotion."

The book, in which the baby-faced gold medalist reveals that he has AIDS and was H.I.V.-positive before the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, has shinnied up best-seller lists across the country since its release on Feb. 27. "Breaking the Surface" will be No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list for hard-cover nonfiction on March 19.

Booksellers say that timely appearances on "20-20" and "Oprah," as well as a 16-city tour on which Mr. Louganis is generous with his smiles, hugs and thank-you's, have generated much of the demand. But stories of athletes with H.I.V. also seem to hit an especially tender spot with sports-loving Americans. Arthur Ashe's memoir, "Days of Grace" (Alfred A. Knopf), was on the New York Times best-seller list for 16 weeks, and Magic Johnson's book, "My Life" (Random House), logged 10.

Even with such a track record for the earlier books, "Breaking the Surface" has been hard to find this week. Random House ordered a meager first printing of 45,000 books and has already gone back to reprint five times, for a total of 213,000 copies. Bookstores, meanwhile, quickly sold out of the book last week, and most are still waiting to restock. Last week alone, Ingram Book Sellers, a wholesale distributor, had frantic calls from booksellers requesting more than 83,000 copies. The book is now on back order. More Apologies

Since Alexander Theroux's "Primary Colors" (Henry Holt) was published last fall, it has garnered high praise and, last week, accusations that the author had lifted several passages from an out-of-print book, "Song of the Sky," by Guy Murchie. Mr. Theroux apologized, saying he had mistaken notes taken from Mr. Murchie's work for his own words.

It is not the first time the essayist, poet and novelist has been accused of literary theft. In a lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan in 1992, Gail Levin, a professor of art history at the City University of New York, said Mr. Theroux had unlawfully used verbatim passages from her 1985 book "Hopper's Places" (Alfred A. Knopf) in a 1990 article for Art & Antiques magazine, "Edward Hopper's Cape Cod."

Segments of her work, clusters of several sentences running, appeared in Mr. Theroux's article intact without attribution, the suit said. Mr. Theroux settled with Professor Levin 1994 with a modest payment and a letter of apology dated March 1, 1994. "I acknowledge and regret that I used passages from your book 'Hopper's Places' without attribution or quotation," Mr. Theroux wrote to Ms. Levin. "It was not my intention to fail to credit your work in this fashion." A correction was later published in Art & Antiques.

Several years earlier, Steven Levy, who writes about technology for Newsweek, accused Mr. Theroux of plagiarizing his book "Hackers" (Delta) in a 1986 article on nerds for New England Monthly magazine, which is now defunct. Daniel Okrent, who was then the editor of the magazine and is now the managing editor of Life magazine, said Mr. Theroux had written Mr. Levy a letter of apology as well, saying he had confused notes from his reading with his own ideas. Mr. Theroux complimented Mr. Levy on a similarity in their prose styles and said it was "incredibly stupid" to have made such a mistake.

In a letter to The New York Times published yesterday, Mr. Theroux again stated that in "The Primary Colors," "the problem was a nonstory and a matter in editing of dropped quotation marks." Changing Fortunes

When Carol Saline and Sharon J. Wohlmuth started hunting for a publisher for their 1994 photo-and-essay book, "Sisters," they were turned down by Manhattan's biggest publishers and ended up signing with a small Philadelphia house, Running Press, for a modest five-figure advance.

Now, with more than 300,000 copies in print and a top spot on best-seller lists, Ms. Saline, a senior editor at Philadelphia Magazines, and Ms. Wohlmuth, a photographer at The Philadelphia Inquirer, are the choosers.

Late last month, they sold their next two books, "Daughters and Mothers" and "Best Friends," to Doubleday for more than $ 2 million.

"A lot of people said it's a nice book but it won't sell," said their agent, Ellen Levine, referring to "Sisters." "They are regretting it now." Ms. Levine did not hold an auction for the duo's encore. Big Stores' Advantage

A Federal District Court judge has cleared the way for a lawsuit that accuses four publishers of giving unfair financial advantage to chain bookstores over independent booksellers. Citing the Robinson-Patman Act, which protects small and independent businesses from unfair competition from chain stores, Judge John F. Keenan of the Southern District of New York in White Plains denied the publishers' efforts to have the case stayed or dismissed.

Last year, he American Booksellers Association and half a dozen bookstores charged that five publishers -- St. Martin's Press, Penguin U.S.A., Houghton Mifflin, Rutledge Hill Press and Hugh Lauter Levin Associates -- had discriminated against independent stores by giving special discounts and promotional allowances to some chains and warehouse clubs. The publishers have all denied giving illegal benefits to the bigger stores. But Hugh Lauter Levin Associates has since settled with the plaintiffs, agreeing to conform to the Robinson-Patman Act.